CANADA STOCKS-Futures gain as oil price tops $50 per barrel

Reuters Staff

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May 26 (Reuters) - Stock futures pointed to a higher start for Canada’s main stock index on Thursday as oil prices broke above $50 per barrel for the first time in nearly seven months after a global supply glut showed signs of easing.

June futures on the S&P TSX index were up 0.31 percent at 7:15 a.m. ET.

Oil prices have rallied in recent weeks after a string of outages, due mainly to wildfires in Canada and unrest in Nigeria and Libya, knocked out nearly 4 million barrels per day of production.

No major economic events are scheduled for the day.

Canada’s main stock index hit a nine-month high on Wednesday, led by energy and financial stocks as oil rose and investors grew more comfortable with the prospect of a U.S. interest rate hike as early as next month.

Dow Jones Industrial Average e-mini futures were up 0.16 percent at 7:15 a.m. ET, while S&P 500 e-mini futures were up 0.1 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-mini futures were up 0.16 percent.

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Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) said bad loans increased by C$583 million, or 19 percent, in the second quarter from the quarter before, largely due to a rise in credit to oil firms that had turned sour.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reported a 3.5 percent rise in quarterly profit, helped by growth in its retail and business banking division.

Borrowing activity by Canadian small businesses fell for the fourth month in a row in March, data from PayNet showed, suggesting firms’ appetite for investment remained weak and boding poorly for economic growth.